| Grant number: | 13/16397-7 |
| Support Opportunities: | Regular Research Grants |
| Start date: | May 01, 2014 |
| End date: | April 30, 2016 |
| Field of knowledge: | Health Sciences - Medicine - Medical Clinics |
| Principal Investigator: | Solange Rios Salomão |
| Grantee: | Solange Rios Salomão |
| Host Institution: | Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil |
| Associated researchers: | Adriana Berezovsky ; Flavio Eduardo Hirai ; João Marcello Fortes Furtado ; Márcia Regina Kimie Higashi Mitsuhiro ; Mauro Silveira de Queiroz Campos ; Nívea Nunes Ferraz ; Paula Yuri Sacai Munhoz ; Rubens Belfort Mattos Junior ; Sung Eun Song Watanabe |
Abstract
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are globally 39 million blind people and 246 visually impaired at risk of blindness. Two thirds of these individuals live in developing countries, and more than half of the cases of blindness are avoidable or curable with the technology currently available. People e50 years of age represent 65% of the blind and 82% of the visually impaired. In Brazil, it is roughly estimated that there are 1.2 million blind people (visual acuity in the better-vision eye <20/200), 40% of them due to cataract. The WHO also recognizes that near impaired vision is an important ocular condition that affects quality of life, but still has to be included in WHO estimates of burden of diseases, at least in part by the shortage of population based data scientifically validated. The aim of this cross sectional observational population-based study is to evaluate the prevalence and causes of near and distance vision impairment and blindness in the city of Parintins, Amazonas (AM). The study will be performed in a population-based sample of adults e45 years of age residents of randomly selected urban and rural districts in the city of Parintins, AM. In addition, in equatorial regions, with a high exposure to ultraviolet radiation, pterygium can be a prevalent cause of blindness/visual impairment, having currently only isolated reports of prevalence of this ocular disease in Brazilian equatorial territory. As a general proxy for the performance of the eye care system, the delivery and visual outcomes of cataract surgical services will be evaluated. Because of the territorial extension and socioeconomic discrepancies, studies in underserved and/or rural areas with poor access to eye care services are needed to obtain more representative estimates of visual impairment and blindness in our country. The outcomes of this study will give health authorities information to improve ocular health services in that population. (AU)
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